CHAPTER 243: CHAPTER 243: DON’T BETRAY ME

An Duxuan called.

"What’s the matter? How did you get involved with Mo Shiyan?"

"I don’t know what happened either."

"Is someone targeting Mo Shiyan? Definitely! This circle is truly unscrupulous, completely disregarding the interests of the innocent. If Li Tianyao sees this..."

An Duxuan didn’t know that Li Tianyao had already arrived in Yuncheng.

Hearing him mention Li Tianyao, An Yan’s attention was immediately drawn away from her skyrocketing fan count.

Hadn’t she put herself at risk to give the other party a chance to make a move, precisely to expose the person behind the scenes? But now, with so many new fans, and the number still climbing... If she exposed the truth too quickly, wouldn’t that be a bit of a loss for her? No, I must tell Li Tianyao to hold off. Let the bullets fly a little longer, and let my fan count rise a bit more.

While she was lost in thought, the voice on the other end of the phone switched. It was An Zhongbo.

"Yanyan, don’t worry about this. I’ve asked your older brother to have someone suppress it. If Li Tianyao uses this as an excuse to give you trouble, have your older brother talk to him!"

"No need."

"What do you mean, no need? Your older brother should already be in Yuncheng. Go find him and let him handle this for you."

"Older Brother is in Yuncheng? Did you ask him to find me?"

"Not to find you. It’s business-related. Ling Xiao connected us with Blackstone Group, remember? Blackstone Group wants to import a batch of Raw Stones, but it’s inconvenient for them to do it directly, so they’ve entrusted us to help!"

Only then did An Yan feel relieved.

She had heard Ling Xiao mention Blackstone Group before; it seemed like a reliable company.

If her older brother could establish a collaboration with them through this Raw Stone purchase, future cooperation would naturally follow.

"Yanyan, don’t be afraid of Li Tianyao. Listen to your father. You haven’t even had your wedding yet. If he dares to bully you, Dad will make the Li Family pay tenfold..."

An Zhongbo’s unquestioning favoritism made An Yan’s lips curve into an involuntary smile.

"Got it, Dad. But don’t worry, Li Tianyao knew about this from the start, so there’s no need to worry about me."

"Good, good. As long as he knows, then Dad is reassured."

After ending the call, An Yan dialed Li Tianyao’s number.

BEEP. BEEP.

It rang until it automatically disconnected, but no one answered.

Strange, what could Li Tianyao be busy with? Could it be that what I’m doing isn’t significant to him? That he’s not paying attention at all?

Since the call didn’t go through, she had no choice but to send a message:

[Li Tianyao, their intentions are clear now. They want to use my connection with Mo Shiyan to tarnish my reputation and provoke you!]

[I know this might upset you, but please, hold back for now. If those online comments are bothering you, just don’t look at them, okay?]

After sending the message, An Yan stared at her phone for a quite a while, but no reply came from Li Tianyao.

She didn’t know whether he had seen it or not.

Actually, Li Tianyao had seen it. But he was more concerned about what Lu Feng had just reported than the online drama surrounding her.

"Ninth Master," Lu Feng said, "we just received news. An Yaoluo contacted Blackstone Group through Ling Xiao. Blackstone has entrusted the Raw Stone procurement to An Yaoluo. He’s currently meeting with Mo Shiyan’s people!"

An Yaoluo and Mo Shiyan?

Li Tianyao slowly turned the Buddha Beads on his wrist.

"What do you think that signifies?"

Lu Feng said, "The An Family might be looking to expand into the international market. Master, should we inform Blair to give the An Family some special consideration?"

"Special consideration?"

Li Tianyao’s hand stilled.

He was well aware of the An Family’s business.

In his opinion, this wasn’t the best time for the An Family to enter the international market.

An Yaoluo wasn’t shrewd, but he definitely wasn’t stupid. Venturing into the international market with insufficient capital could easily lead to bankruptcy.

Yet An Yaoluo, who usually played it safe, made such a move. Why? Could someone have given him assurances? Otherwise, how would he dare take such a risk? Was it that little girl’s idea? With Xinyan Group’s backing, An Yaoluo might indeed feel emboldened to act freely. But why would that little girl risk letting An Yaoluo explore foreign markets? She wants to leave me!

Instantly, Li Tianyao recalled An Yan once asking him why he didn’t expand overseas.

What had he told her then? He’d said he wasn’t used to the foreign environment and couldn’t stomach the food.

So, that little girl thought he had no power overseas? Believed that by fleeing abroad, she could escape his control? Heh.

A flicker of something crossed Li Tianyao’s eyes. When they cleared, his expression was tinged with a chilling malice.

No wonder that little girl had seemed like a completely different person lately. She was clearly more relaxed during video calls, and she even kissed him before going to the hospital. So it was all an act to lull him into complacency! Her insistence on visiting Mo Shiyan at the hospital—that was to provide cover for An Yaoluo, wasn’t it? Heh! Fine! Just great! She never truly wanted to be with him. Perhaps she was even hoping he’d fall ill quickly! Once he was sick, he wouldn’t be able to control her, and she could run off abroad to live her life freely! If he were truly bedridden and incapacitated, that would be one thing. But his illness was curable! When he recovered, was he supposed to just stand by and watch her live with another man? No! Unacceptable! Besides him, Li Tianyao, she could forget about ever being with another man in her life! This time, he would make her understand: even if he, Li Tianyao, went mad or fell ill, she was not allowed to betray him!

"Tell Blair not to do business with the An Family."

"Yes."

「**」

An Yan felt uneasy the entire way. Li Tianyao wasn’t answering her calls or replying to her messages. Had he not seen them, or was he angry?

The car drove into the estate and stopped before the main building. An Yan got out and headed straight for the living room.

Li Tianyao was lounging on the large sofa, long legs crossed, a thick document in hand, his eyes rapidly scanning its contents.

Though he clearly heard her approaching footsteps, he didn’t so much as bat an eyelid.

Lu Feng, Lin Ling, and the others who were usually by his side were nowhere to be seen.

He was alone in the vast living room, yet the air felt oppressively heavy, thick with an unspoken tension.

"Did you see the message I sent? Are you angry because I asked you not to deal with it immediately?" An Yan spoke first, her tone as light as she could manage.

The man lowered the document, patting the spot beside him, a clear invitation for her to sit.

An Yan obediently went over and sat.

"I asked you not to handle it because I wanted to leverage Mo Shiyan’s popularity to gain more followers. You know, my Weibo..."

Before she could finish, Li Tianyao placed the document he had been reading in front of her.

"Explain this first!"

An Yan looked down. It was a letter of intent for cooperation between the An Family and Blackstone Group.

Her heart lurched. How did Li Tianyao get this?